Vacation Records entered life in L.A. 18 months ago, at the same time as the opening of Origami Records on Sunset, Little Radio on 2nd Street downtown, and the bizarre BBQ-psych-punk hybrid known as Territory Records. Little Radio and Territory are gone, but Origami  ensconced amid all things Echo  and Vacation have thrived with their attention to niche music and odd formats. Origamis concentration is indie and pop, while Vacation serves up some of the best psychedelia in heavy syrup to come along since Kraut- and Frog-rock. Dealing in new and used vinyl, Vacation moved to Sunset Junction two months ago from their former Hollywood digs, trafficking in massive slabs of vinyl LPs, 7-inches and cassettes and producing free live-in stores every week. Co-owned by record label Hydra Head and comic book store Secret Headquarters, Vacation stole away store operator Pete Majors from Amoeba Records, where he worked as a used record buyer. Vacation works directly with bands and labels as much as possible to stock the store  especially if theyre L.A.-based. The most-desired records for vinyl reissue are Japanese psych heavyweights Boris Heavy Rocks and Flood LPs. But theres a whole store full of desirable records waiting to be panted after. 3815 W. Sunset Blvd., Sunset Junction. (323) 666-2111, vacationvinyl.com.
David Cotner

Rolling Greens is for things for your garden you cant find at Home Depot  exotic plants and cacti, containers, statuary and other garden nonsense in four broad levels, sprawling down a hillside in the outer wilds of Culver City. I went there looking for some Mexican feather grass, that landscaping cliché that has become the staple of every new Southland mall. And, before you know it, Im wandering and wondering, Would it be better to go with a cast-iron planter, or the zinc? Do I have space in the corner by the telephone pole for that nice wooden bodhisattva? And what about that topiary bush anyway? And I was thinking the distressed Mexican pottery would be good in my 4-foot patch of L.A.  maybe go for the whole post-Revolution hacienda-ruins look. Plenty of nonessential items to make your petty burgher dreams come true. 9528 Jefferson Blvd., Culver City. (310) 559-8656; also 7505 Beverly Blvd., Mid-City. (323) 934-4500, rollinggreensnursery.com. Jedd Birkner

One of the last large independent bookstores in Southern California, Book Soup, which bills itself as the Bookseller to the Great and Infamous, survived the death of longtime owner Glenn Goldman in 2009, as well as the competition from Internet shopping and the huge chain bookstores and their discounted wares. In fact, according to Book Soup staff, the West Hollywood landmark is booming. A big reason for that is Vromans, a major independent bookstore in Pasadena, which bought Book Soup after Goldman died, and over the past year has invested its deep-pocketed resources to maintain and build upon Book Soups inventory of more than 60,000 titles. Another reason is that Book Soup, which opened in 1975, still specializes in books customers crave in the areas of art, photography, film, music, literary fiction, L.A. noir, celebrity biographies and controversial nonfiction. The store continues to champion hard-to-find books by university, international and small presses, while offering author signings every week. If you want to learn about a world of ideas and transforming stories, Book Soup is the place to go. 8818 Sunset Blvd., W. Hlywd. (310) 659-3110, booksoup.com. Patrick Range McDonald

The Japanese garden district on Sawtelle Boulevard in West Los Angeles features three nurseries side by side, companion planted, as it were, for mutual benefit. Of them, Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery is the most artistic. As the name implies, bonsai is their specialty. But someone here has a keen eye for plant arrangements of all types  for the way in which dainty alyssum blossoms, say, complement a hefty profusion of petunias, mints and marjoram. Can a lowly house cactus inspire? It can here, jumbled into a pretty glazed clay pot with a squadron of weird little succulents. The place feels like nothing so much as someones wonderful backyard. Everything in tight spaces. Life bursting out of every corner. Yamaguchis is a great place for wandering, and it helps that the plants are happy, fat and healthy. The abundance of beneficial insects  ladybugs, bees, lacewings  zipping about is a good sign, too. Sales ladies Michiko and Kate wont mince words about which plants will thrive in shade and which require hours of blazing sun. Lest we forget, gardening is science as much as it is art. To some, its practically religion. If shes in good humor (and detects that you have a sense of humor), Michiko may even offer to whisper a blessing over your newly purchased plants. 1905 Sawtelle Blvd., W.L.A. (310) 473-5444. Gendy Alimurung

With its $30 million redesign completed last year, the Hotel Shangri-La in Santa Monica is the epitome of L.A. glamour  something thats hard to define until youre practically immersed in it. Built in 1939, the Shangri-La, with a glorious Art Deco design and superb beachfront location, has always seemed special, and its only gotten better with the renovation. Remaining true to its architecture, the pool area and dining room are tastefully sleek and modern, with an ultra-posh rooftop bar that offers great views, particularly at sunset, of the Pacific Ocean and Santa Monica Pier. Nearly all of the rooms have an ocean view and come with flat-screen TVs, wireless Internet, super comfy beds and iPod docking stations. To top it off, Santa Monica Beachs clean white sand is a short walk away. 1301 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica. (310) 394-2791, shangrila-hotel.com. Patrick Range McDonald

Secret Headquarters in Silver Lake is not the oldest, or the biggest, or the cheapest comic book store in Los Angeles, but it is the most beautiful. The impeccable nerds version of a man cave, this place is outfitted like a private library, with dark wood shelves, creaky wood floors, a ta , manga  then delve deep into one sub-specialty: alternative graphic novels. That Henry-Rollins-and-Glenn-Danzig-as-gay-lovers minicomic? Theyve got it. Along with Steve Reeders Cheetahs Never Win, Jeffrey Browns Cats Are Weird and Matt Haverons Harshmallow. What Secret Headquarters lacks in sheer bulk of mainstream titles (Isnt that what the internets for?), owners Dave Pifer and David Richie make up for with atmosphere and knowledge. If you dont speak geek, or dont know what you like, the person behind the register here is happy to recommend something. No secret password required. 3817 W. Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake. (323) 666-2228, secretheadquarters.com. Gendy Alimurung